


little things you do that make me weak

by nothanksweregood (eavis)



Series: straight for your heart (wolfpack au) [15]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Anxious Niall, Gen, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-26
Updated: 2017-09-26
Packaged: 2019-01-05 14:02:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12191337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eavis/pseuds/nothanksweregood
Summary: Louis is napping on the couch when Niall gets home from work. It’s late, after nine, and Niall’s being as quiet as he can getting in, since most of the kids are probably asleep. Louis’ senses, though, are too finely tuned by years of babysitting and being a foster dad and then a dad and then a foster dad some more. His eyes crack open just a bit and he smiles at Niall, warm and happy.“Heya, Lou.” Niall sets his bag by the stairs and toes out of his shoes. “Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you.”“Glad you did.” Louis stretched luxuriously, his hoodie riding up a bit over his stomach. “I was waiting up for you. How was work, sunshine?”“Was good, yeah. Bit long, though.” Niall curls his toes in his socks, shifting his weight a little and edging forward until he can nudge his big toes into the carpet edge by the sofa. “Had to have a couple of teas to get through it.”“Poor Neil.” Louis grins up at him. The little sliver of his stomach is still bared, and Niall inches forward a little more. Rocks back onto his heels.





	little things you do that make me weak

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by, of course, [this](http://nothanksweregood.tumblr.com/post/165666221926) picture. thank u as always to b @littlepetlouis for the swift and encouraging beta!

Louis is napping on the couch when Niall gets home from work. It’s late, after nine, and Niall’s being as quiet as he can getting in, since most of the kids are probably asleep. Louis’ senses, though, are too finely tuned by years of babysitting and being a foster dad and then a dad and then a foster dad some more. His eyes crack open just a bit and he smiles at Niall, warm and happy.

“Heya, Lou.” Niall sets his bag by the stairs and toes out of his shoes. “Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Glad you did.” Louis stretches luxuriously, his hoodie riding up a bit over his stomach. “I was waiting up for you. How was work, sunshine?”

“Was good, yeah. Bit long, though.” Niall curls his toes in his socks, shifting his weight a little and edging forward until he can nudge his big toes into the carpet edge by the sofa. “Had to have a couple of teas to get through it.” 

“Poor Neil.” Louis grins up at him. The little sliver of his stomach is still bared, and Niall inches forward a little more. Rocks back onto his heels.

“D’you - want a blanket or something?” 

Louis opens his mouth and then pauses, looking at Niall so steadily that Niall takes a half step back, hands fisted in his pockets. “Y’know, I think I might. Think I might need some body heat, too, now that you mention it.”

“Yeah?” Niall starts to tuck his lip between his teeth and forces himself to stop, running his tongue along his teeth instead. 

“I’ve got a comforter on my bed.” Louis stretches again and holds out a hand. “Help me up?”

“Who’s the alpha around here?” Niall grumbles, but he hauls Louis to his feet, feeling a little relieved despite himself when Louis stumbles and falls into him just a bit, tucking his nose (cold) into Niall’s neck (also cold and feeling even colder for the icicle pressed to his skin). “Shit, Louis, you’re freezing. Why didn’t you grab a blanket while you were waiting, idiot?”

“Here I am, dying of hypothermia,” Louis sniffs, not lifting his nose from Niall’s neck, “and you’re calling me names.”

Niall turns his head just enough to scent Louis, dragging in the lavender detergent and sweat and faint smell of cigarettes that lingers even still. He knows Louis probably can tell what he’s doing, but the way the tremors in his hands quiet overrides any weird feelings about it. “Well, I did offer a blanket.”

“Niall,” Louis whines, drawing it out into a whinge worthy of Peggy at her brattiest and slumping more heavily onto Niall. “I need  _ body heat _ .”

“All right, all right.” Niall huffs a laugh. “Let’s get up to bed then. Just got to clean my teeth.”

Louis trails after him into the bathroom, draped heavily over him as he brushes and spits and rinses and spits and rinses again. There’s a brief interlude while Niall waits for Louis to clean his teeth and Louis pretends not to know what Niall’s waiting for before Louis grins and reaches for his toothbrush.

Completely contrary to his protests that he was dying of hypothermia, Louis kicks off his trackies and tugs off his hoodie before diving underneath the duvet. Shaking his head, Niall climbs out of his jeans and folds them neatly before tugging on Louis’ discarded trackies. He forgoes the hoodie, but he does lay it atop his jeans instead of on the floor before he slides in next to Louis. 

Louis squirms around to face him and licks his nose. 

Niall wrinkles it. “Gross, Lou.”

“You love it,” Louis says, unperturbed, and since they’ve previously established that Niall does, in fact, love it, he doesn’t really have much to say to that. He snuggles closer instead, because if he’s  _ really _ close Louis can’t exactly reach his nose with his tongue, now can he. Except then Louis slides his freezing feet in between Niall’s and he jumps. 

“Never understood why you can’t just wear socks to bed,” he grumbles, “then you wouldn’t be as cold and you wouldn’t stick your popsicle feet all over whoever’s closest.”

“My feet need to be  _ free _ , Neil. And besides, isn’t that was I was saying? I’m dying of hypothermia! You should be cuddling me  _ closer _ .”

Niall rolls his eyes, but he obligingly slides down a bit so his face is nestled in Louis’ neck and one of his arms is looped about his middle. He doesn’t realise until Louis makes a contented noise that the hand that’s resting on Louis’ stomach is rubbing gently. He freezes for a second, because Louis’ not a wolf right now and surely that’s - a bit weird, right, to just be rubbing your mate’s stomach, but Louis whines, sounding very much like his wolf-form, so Niall starts back up.

Contrary to the rest of his body, Louis’ stomach is warm and soft under his hand. Even knowing he won’t be able to see anything because of the duvet, Niall glances down. Louis must feel him do it, because he says sleepily, “Mourning the loss of my six pack, Nialler? You’re not the only one, ‘m afraid. Been leaving that to Payno, these days.”

“No!” Niall protests, then, hunching in on himself a little, corrects, “I mean, you can do whatever, obviously, I was just - ‘s nice.”

“Nice?” Louis’ head comes up, craning to look down at Niall. “I know I’m not exactly in the best shape of my life here, pet. Y’don’t have to sugarcoat it.”

“I’m being serious, though, honestly.” Niall feels like his face might spontaneously light on fire from embarrassment, but he pushes past it, because Louis shouldn’t feel like he’s - less. Just because he’s not got the same body as Liam or Zayn. “It’s - shit, this makes me sound like a right idiot, but - I like it all soft like it is now. I mean, Liam’s obviously worked his arse off and I’m proud of him, but - he’s not as comfy to lay on now, y’know? You’re - dunno. It’s just nice ‘n soft. Safe, like.”

“Nialler.” Louis sounds helpless. “Niall, love.”

“Sorry, I’m - I know that’s weird of me to think, I didn’t mean to -”

“No, it’s -” Louis gropes about for Niall’s free hand and raises it to his mouth, pressing a kiss to the inside of his palm. “It’s just I dunno how I got lucky enough to have you in my pack is all. Love you so much, sunshine.”

“Oh!” Niall squirms a bit over the direct compliment, but the warmth that spreads all the way from his toes up to his ears at it makes him wonder that they even still need the duvet. “I - I love you, too. Always. ‘M so glad you’re our alpha.”

“Me, too.” Louis’ grip on him tightens and Niall wriggles happily closer, reaching his face up to scent Louis one more time before they go to sleep.

If, in the morning, he’s somehow managed to move around so that his head is pillowed on Louis’ stomach with Louis’ hand in his hair as they wake up, neither of them mention it. Louis does tug him aside, though, before the chaos of breakfast to press a warm kiss to Niall’s mouth and a parting rub to his stomach, leaving Niall smiling after him like the truly besotted idiot he is.


End file.
